Bad Businesses: Yodel couriers and 'Web Help'

[Lucky8]

Has anyone come across an outfit called "Web Help"? A colleague is having a nightmare of a time with Yodel after a messed up delivery. Their customer service function seems to be outsourced to this company called Web Help. Some of their people say they all work for this firm called "Web Help", but some of them say that's not true, they all work for Yodel. Nobody will give a straight answer. The customer service is hellish, their attitude stinks, and apparently even as they sit in South Africa and India they lie and pretend they're in Liverpool and can look out of their window at the docks! ?

Has anyone ever been able to escalate a matter to Mike Hancox, the Chief Executive? This Web Help call centre refuses to let anyone escape from their hold. So if that's the case, how does anyone in Yodel know how badly they're doing?

 

[MBE2017]

……. how does anyone in Yodel know how badly they're doing?

They know exactly how well they are doing, they provide cut price deliveries at a reasonable delivery success rate. They are not aiming to be the best for reliability, and frankly, are only worried about what their clients think about them, not you.

 

[Lucky8]

I meant how does Yodel know how their subcontractor Web Help is doing representing them as their customer services function, if Web Help doesn't allow any customer - which can include Yodel's clients - to speak directly to Yodel and tell them.

 

[MBE2017]

I meant how does Yodel know how their subcontractor Web Help is doing representing them as their customer services function, if Web Help doesn't allow any customer - which can include Yodel's clients - to speak directly to Yodel and tell them.

Maybe that is its function. Yodels clients will have direct routes to them, they will not be going through a web help page. Yodels web chat feature on their site was rarely in operation in the Xmas run up, but it looks pretty on their web page.

 

[Lucky8]

"Web Help" is a company, it's not a web help page. They run Yodel's whole customer service function, for clients as well as parcel recipients.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I think as indicated by @MBE2017 that you are concerning yourself to much with what does not matter
Yodel don't care like any other parcel company they have no desire to impress anybody They have so many customers and an over capacity of their system .

Is your friend a Buyer or a Squire??
If something was purchased online then it is the retailers responsibility to sort the problem out . If your friend has sent the consignment themselves then they have a problem

 

[MBE2017]

Jeremy gave the answer away.

 

[fisicx]

Suppose you pay £2.99 for delivery and the parcel goes missing. For Yodel to investigate where the parcel is and then attempt re-delivery will cost them more than £2.99. It’s not in their interest to do anything at all. Outsourcing support absolves them of all responsibility.

Quite simply: Yodel don’t care.

 

[Lucky8]

I was asking about Web Help and Yodel more from a business to business perspective as well as a customer one. Of course Yodel is inundated, however I think it's flippant to say Yodel doesn't care at all about customer service. I think they are doing the talk, but not the walk.

It was a surprise to me to hear that Yodel had outsourced all its customer service function to Web Help abroad and from a business perspective, I would be concerned if I dealt with any other company who also outsourced their customer service to Web Help. I was curious if anyone had ever heard of them and knew which other companies use them.

 

[thetiger2015]

I was asking about Web Help and Yodel more from a business to business perspective as well as a customer one. Of course Yodel is inundated, however I think it's flippant to say Yodel doesn't care at all about customer service. I think they are doing the talk, but not the walk.

It was a surprise to me to hear that Yodel had outsourced all its customer service function to Web Help abroad and from a business perspective, I would be concerned if I dealt with any other company who also outsourced their customer service to Web Help. I was curious if anyone had ever heard of them and knew which other companies use them.

Thousands of companies outsource customer service? Yodel don't have a 7 floor building with people answering phone calls all day, it's horrendously expensive. They're a base line, ultra cheap courier who deliver 90% of parcels - the rest? Who knows? It's not a guaranteed service but it's a snip of the cost.

You can have your own virtual customer service desk for £100 per month or less/or more depending on how much work they have to do.

Just type outsourced call centre in to google and see what comes up - pages and pages!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I was asking about Web Help and Yodel more from a business to business perspective as well as a customer one. Of course Yodel is inundated, however I think it's flippant to say Yodel doesn't care at all about customer service. I think they are doing the talk, but not the walk.

It was a surprise to me to hear that Yodel had outsourced all its customer service function to Web Help abroad and from a business perspective, I would be concerned if I dealt with any other company who also outsourced their customer service to Web Help. I was curious if anyone had ever heard of them and knew which other companies use them.

I still don't think you get the parcel network business model
It would be totally unviable for a parcel company in todays environment to have an effective customer service office . It would simply cost too much . Those that don't use a service like web help just don't deal with complaints and service issues in an effective way .

With customers demanding that transport costs are next to nothing and the highly competitive environment .It is simple a case of bulk in and bulk out managed and controlled online by both the company and customers with not much else

Remember this is one of the most complained about industry in the country

 

[Lucky8]

Jeremy, which specific aspect of cuhtomer service that you're referring to would "cost too much"?

 

[Lucky8]

Thousands of companies outsource customer service? Yodel don't have a 7 floor building with people answering phone calls all day, it's horrendously expensive. They're a base line, ultra cheap courier who deliver 90% of parcels - the rest? Who knows? It's not a guaranteed service but it's a snip of the cost.

You can have your own virtual customer service desk for £100 per month or less/or more depending on how much work they have to do.

Just type outsourced call centre in to google and see what comes up - pages and pages!

You misunderstand. I am not expressing surprise that companies outsource, I am saying I am surprised that 100% of everything to do with customer service, even the most senior levels of complaint about the outsourced customer service itself, is outsourced.

I don't know of any other company in the world which makes it totally impossible to complain about the outsourced company to their client.

 

[Nathanto]

Jeremy, which specific aspect of cuhtomer service that you're referring to would "cost too much"?

When you are charging as little as £2.42 to transport a parcel from one part of the country to another part of the country then pretty much every aspect of customer service costs too much.

It's a cheap no frills service and they'll obviously offer the absolute minimum customer service they can get away with.

It is not impossible to complain about their outsourcing, you can always write to their registered business address. However I suspect they'll just ignore any complaints as they know it's not great but that's fine with them as they don't pretend otherwise.

 

[japancool]

Hey, RM

A colleague is having a nightmare of a time with Yodel after a messed up delivery.

Was this for something they bought?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Jeremy, which specific aspect of cuhtomer service that you're referring to would "cost too much"?

Anything that does not involve inputting addresses

 

[Lucky8]

Anything that does not involve inputting addresses

Then how come they pay Web Help millions to carry out other CS activities which are not inputting addresses and still make £150m profit?

 

[Lucky8]

Hey, RM


Was this for something they bought?

Yes.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Then how come they pay Web Help millions to carry out other CS activities which are not inputting addresses and still make £150m profit?

I don't think they pay them very much Web Help have thousands of customers.

For what it worth an MP is fighting for tighter regulations in the Industry and its possible that they might have to comply with tighter laws but it will come at a cost to the customers

 

[Lucky8]

I don't think they pay them very much Web Help have thousands of customers.

For what it worth an MP is fighting for tighter regulations in the Industry and its possible that they might have to comply with tighter laws but it will come at a cost to the customers

My point is Yodel have given a £multi-million contract to WebHelp to provide their CS function. This is for functions far beyond just inputting delivery addresses. Yodel brag about their CS on their website. Web Help should provide a quality service as part of that function. They are clearly failing to do that, but WebHelp prevent the customer from telling Yodel how badly WebHelp are doing.

 

[Newchodge]

Yes.

Then they are wasting their time. Yodel has no responsibiity to a buyer. They need to complain to their supplier. Why should Yodel spend any money taling to someone who is not a client?

 

[Newchodge]

My point is Yodel have given a £multi-million contract to WebHelp to provide their CS function. This is for functions far beyond just inputting delivery addresses. Yodel brag about their CS on their website. Web Help should provide a quality service as part of that function. They are clearly failing to do that, but WebHelp prevent the customer from telling Yodel how badly WebHelp are doing.

But you just said that your friend is NOT a Yodel customer.

 

[Bushman]

When dealing with the likes of Yodel or Evri you need to ask yourself one question

"Do you feel lucky, punk?"

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

My point is Yodel have given a £multi-million contract to WebHelp to provide their CS function. This is for functions far beyond just inputting delivery addresses. Yodel brag about their CS on their website. Web Help should provide a quality service as part of that function. They are clearly failing to do that, but WebHelp prevent the customer from telling Yodel how badly WebHelp are doing.

I give up
I'm going to watch the rugby ?
Then have a kebab

 

[japancool]

Yes.

Then you're not supposed to talk to Yodel at all. You need to talk to the retailer, and get them to sort it out with Yodel. They're the ones who have the contractual relationship, not you.

 

[Lucky8]

Then you're not supposed to talk to Yodel at all. You need to talk to the retailer, and get them to sort it out with Yodel. They're the ones who have the contractual relationship, not you.

You are incorrect about the "supposed to" part. The CS function services clients and end-user recipients. That's why end user recipients are provided by Yodel with various CS mechanisms to contact Yodel with their incorrect deliveries and CS issues.

 

[japancool]

You are incorrect about the "supposed to" part. The CS function services clients and end-user recipients. That's why end user recipients are provided by Yodel with various CS mechanisms to contact Yodel with their incorrect deliveries and CS issues.

No. You are not the customer. The retailer is the customer. Yodel has no contractual obligation whatsoever towards you.

The CCR makes it very clear that it is the retailer who is responsible for getting the parcel to you, not the courier company.

If you don't like the way the retailer's chosen courier handled the delivery, complain to them. It's up to them to raise the issue with their account manager, not you. Or stop buying from them.

 

[Lucky8]

No. You are not the customer. The retailer is the customer. Yodel has no contractual obligation whatsoever towards you.

The CCR makes it very clear that it is the retailer who is responsible for getting the parcel to you, not the courier company.

If you don't like the way the retailer's chosen courier handled the delivery, complain to them. It's up to them to raise the issue with their account manager, not you. Or stop buying from them.

That's not what I said. Re-read what I actually wrote.

 

[japancool]

That's not what I said. Re-read what I actually wrote.

Doesn't matter what you said, or think you're entitled to do. The law is not on your side.

 

[Lucky8]

Doesn't matter what you said, or think you're entitled to do. The law is not on your side.

Doesn't matter what you mis-read and think I said, contractual obligations or the law, that is not what this thread is about.

 

[japancool]

Doesn't matter what you mis-read and think I said, contractual obligations or the law, that is not what this thread is about.

No, the thread is about what you think you're entitled to do.

 

[Lucky8]

No, the thread is about what you think you're entitled to do.

Japan - stop. I asked the question, I know what my question and my thread is about thanks. Just stop please.

 

[fisicx]

Doesn't matter what you mis-read and think I said, contractual obligations or the law, that is not what this thread is about.

I thought this thread was about someone (buyer or seller - we don’t know which) wanting to contact a director of Yodel.

I’ve just done a search on Google and found his LinkedIn profile, email address and a number of ways to contact or complain to Yodel. Has your friend tried all of these? Have they posted on the many Yodel social media pages or even rung the number Google helpfully provides?

 

[japancool]

Japan - stop. I asked the question, I know what my question and my thread is about thanks. Just stop please.

So does everyone else. That's why everyone has told you to stop moaning.

You want to raise a complaint. You have absolutely no entitlement to do so to Yodel. Raise your complaint to the retailer.

 

[Lucky8]

Japan - I have asked you politely to stop. You won't stop. You keep on about legalities and 'entitlement' when I am discussing business practices. Now you are being rude.

I ask you again to stop. Your replies are unhelpful and unwanted.

 

[MBE2017]

OK, let’s try to put an end to this.

Yodels clients are the people who pay them, not the person who has bought the goods normally, but the huge online sellers. These huge companies know the delivery success rates, the failed delivery rates, the number of email complaints and quite possibly the colour of your underwear on the day you order from them.

They use Yodel because 90/95% of shipments reach the end customer, and despite a large number of complaints, because it is a fairly decent service offering VFM, the end customer puts up with things and keeps re ordering.

Until people refuse to buy because Yodel are used, they will keep doing things this way.

This is no different to calling a complaints line where you get offered six options, then another five, then put on hold for 30/60 minutes for the call to cut off. These companies are willing to lose the odd few clients whilst the 95% lemmings keep buying.

The worst version I have seen is a Yorkshire broadband and phone company, who advertise they have won an excellent customer service award each year. They will never advertise this award is from a price scraping site, whose big earner is this company, and they never answer phone call complaints 80% of the time.

If you want good service, you need to demand it, and more importantly be prepared to pay for it.

 

[Lucky8]

I thought this thread was about someone (buyer or seller - we don’t know which) wanting to contact a director of Yodel.

I’ve just done a search on Google and found his LinkedIn profile, email address and a number of ways to contact or complain to Yodel. Has your friend tried all of these? Have they posted on the many Yodel social media pages or even rung the number Google helpfully provides?

My question was: "Has anyone ever been able to escalate a matter to Mike Hancox, the Chief Executive?". By escalation, I mean through the company's escalation route.

Valid answers are:
Yes, I have and here is how I did it
No I've never been able to
No response.

Any other answer is irrelevant.

To your suggestions which you found on Google:
LinkedIn profile = that's not inside the escalation route. It's a last resort but that's not what I asked.
email address = yes. That's not him. That's WebHelp.
a number of ways to contact or complain to Yodel = all done, they're all WebHelp as I stated originally.
Have they posted on the many Yodel social media pages = no, because that's run by WebHelp too
or even rung the number = of course, that's how they had the conversations which I referred to originally.

 

[fisicx]

I don’t know of any escalation process that will get you to the CEO or any other senior manager if starting from tier 1 support. That’s not how support works. Which means the only possible answer to your question is: no.

 

[Lucky8]

I don’t know of any escalation process that will get you to the CEO or any other senior manager if starting from tier 1 support. That’s not how support works. Which means the only possible answer to your question is: no.

Some have it, including firms where I've been COO. Where CS is 100% or even partly outsourced, there is always an escalation route provided for customers from the outsourced CS supplier to the actual company, for the reasons provided in my first post.

So possible answers are yes or no.

 

[thetiger2015]

Some have it, including firms where I've been COO. Where CS is 100% or even partly outsourced, there is always an escalation route provided for customers from the outsourced CS supplier to the actual company, for the reasons provided in my first post.

So possible answers are yes or no.

Are you simply asking whether Yodel have internal systems for upgrading complaints to higher management? Or do you have an actual complaint that needs resolving?

In your first post, you said someone was having problems with a delivery and everyone has said 'good luck' you won't get anywhere but you want to speak to the CEO? About internal systems or about a missed delivery?